Medellin’s International Airport: 11.3% Rise in Passengers in 2016

Colombia’s civil aviation authority (Aeronautica Civil de Colombia, ACC) announced February 13 that Medellin’s international airport (Jose Maria Cordova, JMC) saw 2016 passenger counts jump 11.3% year-on-year, to 7.68 million.

The year-on-year percentage increase in the number of passengers traveling through JMC – located in the Medellin suburb of Rionegro — was second only to the 12.3% year-on-year rise in passengers traveling through Cartagena’s international airport, according to ACC.

Medellin’s downtown Olaya Herrera airport — which mainly handles smaller aircraft on national flights — accounted for another 1.08 million passengers last year, up 0.35%.

In total, Colombia’s airports saw a 4.8% year-over-year increase in passengers in 2016, hitting 35.7 million, with Bogota’s El Dorado airport continuing to account for the bulk of traffic (at 31 million), followed by Medellin and then Cali, according to ACC.

Nationwide, Colombia’s international passenger counts rose 7% year-on-year in 2016, to 11.8 million.

Cartagena, Barranquilla (up 5.6%) and San Andres (up 8.9%) took the fourth, fifth and six spots in the national ranking of airport passenger counts, according to ACC.

As for air cargo, Colombia saw a 10.5% rise in total tonnage year-on-year, with international cargo up 20,201 tons year-on-year, according to ACC.